It’s been so beautiful here, sunny, warm and blue skies, a bit of a breeze (it is Skåne, after all), birdsong and bee buzz, and still chilly in the evenings so you know you will sleep well. It’s spring in all the best senses of the word. I was going to go take photos of the dandelion hill earlier this week but I was too late and they’ve all blown to seed now. The rapeseed fields are glowing neon yellow and the lilacs…the lilacs are here!
Unfortunately, these are not OUR lilacs. These are the lilacs I WANTED. When we bought 6 lilac bushes from the plant nursery last year to plant behind the garage, we were assured by both the tags and the staff that they would bloom the lavender color version. But they are all the dark purple ones instead. Which I like, just not as much as the lighter purple variation. *sigh*
The columbine under the kitchen window is going gangbusters this year. It’s a stray that seeded itself and I love it so I haven’t bothered to pull it up even though it’s getting too large to comfortably share the bed with the hostas. We’ll have to move it after it’s done blooming, though I’m not sure at the moment where to put it.
Martin and I went for a walk this afternoon and I admired all the flowers and blossoms that were everywhere. All the trees and bushes are decked out in flowery beauty; yellow forsythias, white spirea, purple lilacs, pink cherry trees, white hawthorn, and the big white balls of guelder roses (viburnum). Most of the tulips are still standing tall, though they are starting to be past their best-by date.
My potted pansies are still doing well, since the temperatures haven’t gotten too warm yet…won’t be too long though. I wonder if I’ll have to repot everything before Martin’s graduation party! I love their pretty little flowers faces and the rainbow of colors.
During our walk we passed a garden that had lily of the valley growing in a shady spot under a tree. I’ve always wanted to have lily of the valley in my garden/yard but we don’t have any really good protected place for them. Maybe once the hedges get a bit higher. I love them, they’re one of my favorite flowers.
Yesterday was Friday the 13th and it was the end of a very long and stressful week at work. I think it was extra tough since it followed a short week and a long weekend, but there was also a lot of stuff going on that was a bit hard to deal with: I wish people would get their shit together and check their stuff before they submit their requests. I felt like I was having to re-do things over and over and fix mistakes that were not caught before sending to me…things like being given incorrect links for newsletter articles and incorrect measurements for print ads. Basic stuff.
I woke Friday morning at 5 a.m. with another horrible headache (it’s happening a bit too often these days) and after getting up and taking meds and trying to go back to sleep without success, I headed into the office where I was faced with yet another issue that should have been caught before coming to me, and I nearly lost it. I was so frustrated and angry that I nearly burst into tears and I think I horrified one of my office/teammates. I backed out of our team breakfast because I didn’t want to be around anyone just then. Later, another colleague brought me a bouquet of flowers to cheer me up since she’d heard at the breakfast that I was having a bad day and I nearly burst into tears again. We went out and sat in the sunshine for lunch and I felt much better by the time the day, and the week, was over.
So, now I am full of flowers both inside and outside, and I’ve been super-productive all day today, in between breaks for reading and playing games. Anders is making pasta with crayfish tails and garlic sauce for dinner. We’re all set to watch the Eurovision song contest final tonight; we’re rooting for Belgium, which is a perfect replication of sweet-faced Seventies-style disco pop (though I like Bulgaria’s song, too). None of the other Scandinavian countries made it to the final and we can’t vote for Sweden, so…
And tomorrow, no plans again! Yay! I might get started on my FBARs and I need to hang the shower curtain liners I bought last week, but maybe I’ll just go out again and enjoy the flowers since the weather is supposed to take a turn for the not-so-springy.